Morning, Opera Epiclese
Fontaine's new political system officially comes into force today.
With no grand trials or scheduled operas that morning, Furina found herself actually seated in her office for once.
Knock-knock-knock.
"Come in."
The door opened and a woman stepped inside—grey-black uniform, waist-length white hair, a Vision of Hydro at her hip.
The sight snapped Furina upright from her languid slump.
This was the agent she had combed the entire Fontaine civil service to find: captain of the Fontaine Task Force.
Competent, Vision-bearer, trustworthy—those three boxes had to be ticked. Heaven knew how long she'd hunted.
The unit existed solely to hunt for a way to avert the prophecy, so Furina gave it two-hundred-percent of her attention.
At first she'd even considered putting Rina in charge; the woman met every requirement except the second and her combat strength outstripped any Vision-wielder.
Predictably, Rina refused.
Ask why?
Well, apart from being a carbon copy of Furina herself, she had no physical body; appointing her captain would have sent all Fontaine into collective shock.
"Lady Furina, Captain Cecily of the Fontaine Task Force reporting." Cecily snapped a crisp salute.
"Spare me the pageantry." Furina sipped her coffee. "Status report?"
"My lady, we've placed informants in Mondstadt, Inazuma, Sumeru, Natlan and Snezhnaya. Liyue's strict oversight of foreigners has stalled our efforts there. In addition, the Fontaine Hydrological Bureau has partnered with us; a dedicated officer now relays daily sea-level readings, while we supply them with requested data. Current findings: over the past month every coastal region has seen a clear rise—an average of 1.0 cm, with The Court of Fontaine waters up 2.1 cm."
Cecily spoke fluently from her files; achieving this much in under a week was impressive.
A flicker of dismay crossed Furina's face, gone almost before it arrived.
"Understood. Excellent work—keep gathering prophecy-related intelligence. Continue probing Liyue, but drop the plan if necessary; we can't afford to sour relations."
"Yes, my lady." Cecily nodded, turned and left.
She was a woman of action; the moment the briefing ended she was off to her next task. Furina eased back, reaching for the morning paper—
Knock-knock-knock. She rubbed her temples; today was turning into a parade.
"Come in, then."
Her secretary Irene entered.
"Lady Furina, the Maison Gestion has received petitions from over a thousand citizens. Most are devoted admirers seeking an audience and the number keeps climbing."
Furina said nothing, weighing the matter in silence.
She wanted to accept. It would burnish her prestige as the Hydro Archon and let her answer her people's devotion.
Her thoughts were for Fontaine and its citizens, not herself.
'No! Absolutely not!' Rina's voice exploded in her skull. 'Do you know how much time greeting crowds would eat up? You'd have to keep playing Hydro Archon the entire while, how exhausted would you be? No, how much risk of exposure? I forbid it!' She spoke so fast she nearly tripped over her own words, afraid Furina might agree on the spot.
Unless a Fontainer's life was in peril, Rina always put Furina's welfare first.
Furina had to admit the point, Rina's concerns were valid.
Yet disappointing the people ran against everything she wanted.
She paused, then an idea struck her, a compromise forming.
So she cleared her throat and said to Irene.
"Ahem, as the Hydro Archon, I naturally have no free time to receive the public in my daily life."
"You're clearly running around all day..." Irene almost lost her composure and muttered under her breath.
Yet, because the two were so close, twins heard every word.
Furina & Rina: "You... said... what?"
Furina: (◺_◿)
Rina: (◺_◿)
"Nothing..." Cold sweat was already dripping down Irene's forehead.
Furina continued, "But disappointing the people's faith in me is unacceptable, so I've carefully considered the frequency of receptions. This will answer their enthusiasm while suiting the reality of me, the God, Focalors. My plan is three sessions a day, four days a week. Only one person per household may register each year; if too many apply, we'll draw lots. Families in special circumstances, those who've made outstanding contributions to Fontaine, or anyone personally invited by me, the Hydro Archon Focalors, may jump the queue at my discretion."
As Furina spoke, Irene—freshly warned—recorded every word without omission, then bolted from the office at top speed.
The instant Irene left, Furina relaxed and returned to her Inner Space.
She hadn't fully followed Rina's advice; a bad premonition sent her to check on her.
Sure enough.
Rina stood with her back turned; when Furina circled around, she turned away again.
"Other Me, are you angry?"
'Hmph!' Rina gave a cool snort and said nothing.
Realizing Rina was truly upset, Furina tried to fix it. "Other Me, don't be mad... I know you're protecting me, keeping me from seeing the public, but I can't bear to see so many people who love me disappointed, to let the people of Fontaine down..."
Furina stepped closer, her guilty blue eyes fixed on Rina.
Rina's shoulders trembled slightly, but she still said nothing.
"I'll listen to you from now on. As long as it doesn't hinder saving Fontaine or cause its people to suffer, I won't do anything bad for me or that worries you. Other Me, please stop being angry." Seeing no major effect, Furina doubled her promise.
'Really?' Only then did Rina speak. 'You swear?'
"I swear! Let's pinky-promise!"
Saying so, Furina took Rina's hand and hooked their little fingers together.
"I promised, you have to promise too!"
Rina's expression shifted; a complicated emotion flickered in her red eyes. After hesitating a few seconds, she reluctantly said,
'Mm, I promise…'
"Pinky hook, sky-high, five hundred years, no take-backs..."
"Now that the hook is hooked, Other Me should finally not be angry." Furina thought.
But Rina didn't act as expected—she still looked furious.
"Other Me, you...?"
'Did you think a few sentences could coax me?' Rina closed her eyes, conjured a chair with Hydro and slowly sat.
"Hmm... then tonight I'll share my cake with you." After a moment's hesitation, Furina played her trump card.
'Deal!' Rina's eyes lit up at once. 'I want the bigger piece!'
Only then did the gloom vanish from Rina's face, returning to normal.
Furina, heart aching for her lost cake, brought her consciousness back to the outside world.
"The cake's gone, but at least Other Me isn't angry anymore. But what was she hesitating about just now? No idea—back to the newspaper."